We are making undreamed of gains in the fight against strip mining and Mountain Top Removal for coal and as a result the coal industry is responding with intimidation and thug behavior. At the ACOE hearing on October 13, the mining industries public relations firms orchestrated shipping busloads of people to the hearings to intimidate and harass anti strip mine activist. In WV Friends of Coal supporters were shouting environmentalist down as they tried to testify, literally crowding some activist up against a wall while chanting and threatening their safety requiring a police escort through their masses. There was no removal of those people who were disrupting the event and the Army Corps and the cops complied with the threats from the coal thugs by requiring many environmentalists to leave the hearing for their own safety.
NWP 21 Public Hering in West Virginia
These corporate financed efforts are reminiscent of the same tactics that were used in the health care shout downs, tea baggers and overt right wing fox sponsored activities. Many of the pro-coal people who testified escalated the anti-Obama anti-democrat tactics to an entire new level at these hearings. And they completely missed the point.
Shouting, threatening and bullying do not get in the administrative record--comments do. We can overwhelm the Army Corp of Engineers with comments and neutralize any advantage the tactics of the pro mountain top removal crowd. The ACOE is accepting written comments until October 26th. Please help flood the ACOE with comments stating your support for the Army Corps' decision to stop issuing rubber stamp permits.
We need you to take a minute to comment, email, write the Army Corp of Engineers to tell them you support the revocation of NWP 21 in favor a permit by permit process. No two mountains are the same, no two streams are the same, no two strip mines are the same--the one size fits all practice that is NWP 21 has failed miserably and need to be revoked.
1. I applaud the Army Corps of Engineers for its proposal to end the use of the one-size-fits-all NWP 21 permit which allows for a streamlined approval of mountaintop removal operations in Appalachia. For decades, mountaintop removal and valleyfills have had a devastating impact on local communities, the economy, and our environment.
2. NWP 21 for permitting mountaintop removal mining should apply to the entire Appalachian region, including northern Alabama. Failure to do so might lead the coal industry to simply relocate operations to those areas with the most lenient permitting process.
3. No grandfathering of permits should be allowed. Past permits should be reviewed to make sure they meet the spirit and intent of the Clean Water Act.
4. NWP 21 should never have been issued, because filling these streams has more than minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects.
5. The use of NWP 21 is a violation of the Clean Water Act because it is suppose to be used for activities that produce “no significant environmental impact” and the destruction of entire mountains and mountain ranges cannot be considered an insignificant environmental impact.
6. EPA’s own scientists have determined that mountaintop removal and other surface coal mining activities authorized by NWP 21 are causing cumulatively significant degradation of streams and forests in Appalachia – including the destruction of ecologically valuable headwater streams and the pollution of downstream waters.
7. The Corps has long recognized that “the purpose of the NWP program is to reduce regulatory delays and burdens on the public, to place greater reliance on state and local controls, and to free our limited
resources for more effective regulation of other activities with greater potential to adversely impact the aquatic environment.” 56 Fed. Reg. 14, 598—14, 605 (Apr. 10, 1991).
Possible points to make about this:
a. Constantly fighting coal companies and failed agencies to protect our homes, lives, water, and communities is a much greater burden on
the public.
b. We have no state or local controls. WVDEP is a failed agency that fails to control illegal coal company activity.
c. Nothing adversely impacts the aquatic environment more than burying it.
8. The impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining are significant and permanent, the Army Corps should not issue any additional authorizations under NWP 21 while the agency finalizes the process of modifying the permit to prohibit its use in Appalachia.
9. The way the ACOE conducted these hearings was illegal and some of the public hearings amounted to sanctioned riots which coal supporters attended solely to disrupt. By failing to control the meeting process so that all in attendance had equal opportunity to testify, the Corps became a party to the denial of these first amendment rights. The Corps should reschedule these meetings and conduct them in an orderly fashion that protects the first amendment rights of all citizens.
Submit your Comments Today!
Submit written comments:
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers
Attn: CECW-CO, Ms. Desiree Hann
441 G Street, NW., Washington DC 20314-1000
Call:
Pittsburgh Regulatory Branch: (412) 395-7155 or
Ms. Hann at (202)761-4560
ACOE Rally in Support of Banning NWP 21 Knoxville, TN 10-13-09
Dan Roling of National Coal Corporation says United Mountain Defense is impacting their business more than a severance tax 10-13-09
Religious Comments at the ACOE Nationwide Coal Permit 21 hearing Knoxville, TN 10-13-09
Sample Comments at the ACOE Nationwide Coal Permit 21 hearing Knoxville, TN 10-13-09
Legal/ Lawyer Comments at the ACOE Nationwide Coal Permit 21 hearing Knoxville, TN 10-13-09
Scientific Comments at the ACOE Nationwide Coal Permit 21 hearing Knoxville, TN 10-13-09
EPA National Day of Action - October 30, 2009
EPA to delay 79 coal mining permits in 4 states
Associated Press
EPA Withholds 79 Mountaintop Mining Permits for Extended Review
Environmental News Service
United Mountain Defense, Mountain Justice and other environmental and social justice organizations across the country are again calling for rallies in all 11 cities where the EPA has an office. This is our third national action, following up on ones in June and August.
At that time the agency, in response to a letter from WV Congressman Nick Rahall had rubber stamped 42 out of 48 of the permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers to blow up mountains in Appalachia for thin seams of coal. Since then, the EPA has put a hold on 79 nine more permits, 23 in WV and others in KY, TN and OH.
We're glad the EPA has taken this action and we need for the agency to do more: right now, it is only reviewing those permits, not overruling the Corps. Also, Lisa Jackson, the agency's chief has yet to accept our offer to come to the region and see mountaintop removal for herself and witness exactly what is being destroyed.
United Mountain Defense is organizing a rally at the Atlanta EPA office on October 30, 2009. We need people to help us organize this event. Please contact us if you can help by email us at www.umdvolunteerhouse@yahoo.com or call at 865 689-2778.
There is also a need for people to be involved in organizing and attending rallies in these cities.
- Boston
- Atlanta
- Washington DC
- NYC
- Philly
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Kansas City
- San Francesco
- Denver
- Seattle
To find your EPA regional office
Contact Beth Wellington at Energy Justice Network beth@energyjustice.net or visit the facebook page for more information or to get involved.
Facebook Page - EPA National Day of Action
If you can't attend, you can still help
- Spreading the word to your friend and invite them to attend one of the rallies.
- Write your EPA regional office on October 30 and say you support the protesters
- Make a donation to United Mountain Defense, Mountain Justice or Energy Justice Network and specify that it is for the EPA National Day of Action.
To Donate
United Mountain Defense
Use the paypal in the right hand column or send a check to
PO Box 20363
Knoxville, TN 37920
Mountain Justice
Use the pay pal button at
http://mountainjusticesummer.org/ or send a check to
Mountain Justice
PO Box 86
Naoma, WV 25140
Energy Justice Network
Use this link http://tr.im/give_Energy_Justice or send a check
Action Center Inc.
1434 Elbridge St
Philadelphia PA 19149
Please come to this mountaintop removal hearing Oct 13 at the Knoxville Convention Center at 7:00
Please come to the hearing and sign up to give comments. Registration begins at 6:00. You are also invited to come out early from 5:00 – 6:00 to show your support of United Mountain Defense and hold signs and pictures of MTR in front of the Convention Center on Henley Street. We look forward to seeing you there!
Please RSVP UMD at unitedmountaindefense@yahoo.com if you can attend the hearing.
If you are coming from out of town and need help with carpooling or need lodging please contact UMD at umdvolunteerhouse@yahoo.com
US Army Corps of Engineers Public Notice
On July 16th, 2009 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed the elimination of a streamlined permitting process -- known as Nationwide Permit 21, or NWP 21-- which allows coal companies to seek quick approval for their mountaintop removal coal mining projects.
It's important that we get a good crowd out to show support for the Army Corps' decision to stop issuing rubber stamp permits called "Nationwide Permits" -- and to let them know that a lot more is needed to protect communities from the devastating impacts of mountaintop removal.
Before a company can start removing a mountain and dumping it into nearby valleys, there is supposed to be a rigorous permitting process to ensure that they will use good science, operate within the law and not harm nearby communities. Unfortunately, about one-third of mountaintop removal coal mining projects are approved under "nationwide permits." These permits are designed for projects with "minimal impact" --but burying miles of streams under millions of tons of rubble is hardly "minimal impact." During the Bush Administration, the Army Corps regularly granted nationwide permits for valley fills, even after federal judges found that the practice was illegal.
Ending Nationwide Permits will allow citizens to have more voice on mountaintop removal permits in their community--and it will require more scrutiny from government agencies to make sure permits are following the law and using good science. It will slow down mountaintop removal -- but it won't stop it.
The Army Corps has made a great step towards protecting Appalachian communities with better permitting and oversight of mountaintop removal -- but it's only the first step -- we need to end mountaintop removal and valley fills all together.
The coal industry will try to cry out that they are being regulated to death -- but that's just not true. This change would protect communities from outlaw mining practices and give us a better chance for future economic prosperity.
Example Public Comment:
I appreciate the Army Corps of Engineers following through on their agreement to end the use of “nationwide 21” permits which allow for streamlined approval of mountaintop removal operations in Appalachia. For decades, mountaintop removal and valleyfills have had a devastating impact on local communities, the economy, and our environment. Using the more stringent “individual” permitting process and allowing increased public comment and community input on mountaintop removal operations is a step in the right direction.
However, we believe the Obama Administration can, and must, do better to protect American citizens in Appalachia. The Administration needs to end mountaintop removal today. No amount of regulation will make it safe, economically beneficial, or environmentally sustainable to blast apart our mountains and dump the toxic waste into our streams.
In their own public notice, the Army Corps of Engineers acknowledges the significant detrimental impacts that mountaintop removal mining and valleyfills are having on Appalachian communities and landscapes. It is inappropriate for the Army Corps of Engineers to continue issuing nationwide 21 permits until this decision is finalized. In order to protect Appalachia and give community members a say in the process, the Army Corps of Engineers should halt the issuance of nationwide 21 permits immediately.
I appreciate the Obama Administration's attention to the American tragedy that is mountaintop removal coal mining. However, the Administration must take action to end mountaintop removal immediately and move Appalachia towards sustainable, long-term, economic development through clean energy and energy efficiency. To continue practicing and permitting mountaintop removal coal mining is a dangerous and economically disastrous proposal for our nation.
Urgent Action: Tell the EPA to stop valley fill permits permanently!
You have pushed the EPA to take real steps against mountaintop removal. Friday, September 11, the EPA decided that of all 79 mountaintop removal permits they were reviewing, none of them should be approved in their current form!
This temporary stay of execution is a historic step: the biggest any agency has ever taken to end the devastating practice of mountaintop removal. We have achieved it thanks to the years of organizing and outcry from you and tens of thousands of allies across the country.
But now is a crucial time to make sure that this temporary reprieve becomes a permanent change. While the EPA regional offices review the permits in their area, the EPA has opened a 14-day comment period.
Please take a moment to thank the EPA for this important step and ask them to stop all permitting of valley fills?
You can submit official comments at ilovemountains.org
You can find a sample letter below -- feel free to borrow talking points, and to add your own personal comments for a greater impact.
(sample letter provided by Coal River Mountain Watch)
SAMPLE LETTER:
Thank you for doing the right thing so far by holding all 79 mountaintop removal valley fill permit applications for further review with the Army Corps and providing science-based oversight which will limit the devastating environmental impacts of mountaintop removal mining. I encourage the EPA to use its veto authority to stop all permitting of valley fills associated with strip mining in Appalachia.
According to the EPA's own scientific studies, there are many problems associated with valley fills, which have already buried and polluted nearly 2,000 miles of streams across Appalachia. Randy Pomponio, Director of the EPA's Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division in the Mid-Atlantic Region 3, recently testified to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife about the negative impacts that mountaintop removal and valley fills have on water quality. He described high selenium levels and deformities in fish downstream from mountaintop removal sites. Margaret Palmer, an environmental scientist for over 25 years, also testified that stream "restoration" efforts by mine sites completely fail to even approximate the qualities and function of the original streams.
Given the significant impact of federal actions on mountaintop removal mining, I urge you to closely evaluate the NEPA process to ensure that all major federal actions undergo an EIS with significant citizen input. Already countless coalfield residents have documented the devastating social, health, environmental, and economic effects of mountaintop removal. Until these concerns are thoroughly studied, and cumulative impacts are taken into consideration, no mountaintop removal permit applications should go forward. I urge you, if need be, to you to use your veto power to stop future permits from destroying any more mountains, waterways, and communities.
